After some gentle pestering from MMAjunkie.com, UFC president Dana White sketched out the possibilities at hand for bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz’s next booking following UFC 132.

It could be against former WEC champ Brian Bowles (10-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC), as he said, or it could be against Demetrious Johnson (10-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC), as UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby said.

Both options had recently been victorious. Bowles had bested Takeya Mizugaki at UFC 132, and Johnson had beaten Miguel Torres at UFC 130. But as Bowles recently told MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio), he’s healthier and better suited for the job.

Line up their common opponents as the first piece of evidence, Bowles said.

“I finish them faster than [Johnson] does, or I beat him more decisively than he does,” he said. “I’ve been facing tougher opponents than Demetrious has, so that’s what makes me feel like I deserve it over him.”

Then there’s the second piece of evidence, which is plainly seen. Bowles is uninjured (or mostly – his hand is bugging him a bit from hitting Mizugaki’s head so many times). Johnson is on crutches – he fractured his fibia in the second round of the Torres fight.

Thus, figuring out who’s more ready to fight is a no-brainer. Or so it seems.

“Sometimes, it doesn’t really matter, and they make the decisions, so you kind of have to go with it,” Bowles added. “We talked about it a little before, and it seemed like I was probably going to be it. I was at least one of the top guys in line.

“They didn’t promise me that I was going to be next, but it was talked around that I might be next.”

Bowles, though, hasn’t heard a peep since UFC 132, so he doesn’t know what the current plan is. If he’s not next in line for Cruz, he’d like to stay busy anyway.

Bowles has said in several interviews that he’d like to fight three times a year, and he’s on track to meet that goal. Earlier this year at UFC on Versus 3, he submitted Damacio Page at the exact same time as their previous fight two-plus years earlier. The freaky ending followed another one when he fought Dominick Cruz at WEC 47 and was forced to bow out between the second and third rounds with a broken hand. Cruz took his belt and went on to headline UFC 132. He sat out a year before returning to fight Page a second time.

There’s the third piece of evidence – his fight with the current champ didn’t reach its natural conclusion.

“I wouldn’t have had to sit out for a year, I probably would have been back in the mix a lot quicker,” he said. “But I’ve come back, and I’m winning. I think that should put me right back in there. I lost in a weird way; it’s not like I got beat down or anything. A lot of people would like to see that fight finished.”

Well, mainly him and the people around him. But it’s true that he’s a former champion, and that should give him the kind of capital needed for a chance to retake his title. Or so it seems.

If he does get to fight Cruz next, Bowles said he’ll take a completely different tact. He admits the game plan he first approached the fast-moving Cruz with was wrong, and he’s got something else in mind. What that is won’t be revealed until he gets his opportunity, but anyway, he’ll have a different, and better, mindset that will help him: one of the underdog.

“I wouldn’t say easier, but it would be a lot less pressure on me,” he said. “A lot of times if you come in as the underdog, you’re like, ‘Well, if I lose, then nobody expects me to win.’ Kind of easier that way.”

Now, he just needs a little help from the powers that be. Of course, if Johnson heals up for the fall, they could fight it out for the next shot at Cruz.

MMAjunkie.com Radio broadcasts Monday-Friday at noon ET (9 a.m. PT) live from the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino’s Race & Sports Book. The show is hosted by Gorgeous George, MMAjunkie.com lead staff reporter John Morgan and producer Goze. For more information or to download past episodes, go to www.mmajunkie.com/radio.

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